Cultivation: I Can Steal Lifespan from Spirit Beasts

Chapter 142: Fellow Daoist Yu, What a Pity

Seven years.

While Wang Ba focused wholeheartedly on his cultivation, he never neglected the spirit beasts under his care.

Whether it was the Spirit Poultry, the spirit turtles, or the batch of Second-Order Low Grade Psychic Ghost Loaches he had stumbled upon in the market years ago, he tended to them all with meticulous attention.

However, the requirements for a natural Bloodline Breakthrough were often excessively demanding. Thus, Wang Ba was forced to rely on his usual method: Lifespan Breakthrough combined with selective breeding.

Progress with the Spirit Poultry was relatively smooth. Wang Ba used the Bloodline Breakthrough materials obtained from Bai Yu on Alpha-Thirteen and several other ordinary Top Grade Spirit Poultry without hesitation.

It served as a practical verification of his studies.

Aided by his weak Divine Sense, he adjusted the materials and proportions, luckily succeeding with a few subjects.

Alpha-Thirteen was among the successful ones.

Unfortunately, immediately after its breakthrough, Alpha-Thirteen eagerly picked a fight with the Mountain Moving Ape and was casually beaten half to death.

This incident only made Wang Ba value the Mountain Moving Ape even more. Regrettably, in the past seven years, he had never encountered another one for sale. When he inquired at the shop where he bought the first one, he learned that while the Mountain Moving Ape’s grade wasn’t particularly high, it was extremely rare.

Wang Ba could only give up with a sigh.

As for Alpha-Thirteen, perhaps traumatized by the ape’s beating, it somewhat restrained its violent temper. Instead, it took to occasionally gracing a few Second-Order female Spirit Poultry with its presence.

In Wang Ba’s view, the rooster was simply taking out its frustration on the hens after getting bullied by the ape. It was a despicable, worthless behavior that Wang Ba thoroughly looked down upon.

Its offspring inherited some of these flaws. While they possessed remarkable speed and strength, they all seemed to suffer from low intelligence and violent tempers.

They were even more brainless than Alpha-Thirteen.

Wang Ba had to spend a fortune equipping them all with Spirit Beast Collars.

Even after undergoing a Lifespan Breakthrough, these offspring remained at Second-Order Low Grade.

Wang Ba wasn’t surprised. The higher the grade, the larger the gap within that grade. It often required several generations of selective breeding combined with Lifespan Breakthroughs to achieve a smooth advancement.

He had already verified this principle.

Fortunately, Wang Ba had “luckily” bred a First-Order Top Grade Spirit Poultry around that time, giving him an excuse to request more material support from Bai Yu.

Bai Yu agreed readily, providing a significant amount of Bloodline Breakthrough materials.

Relying on these materials—and without exact ratios—Wang Ba used his extensive reading and experimentation to succeed. Among Alpha-Thirteen’s seven or eight offspring, he successfully induced a Bloodline Breakthrough in two of them, obtaining a pair of Second-Order Middle Grade Phantom Chickens.

One male, one female. Wang Ba named them Alpha-Fifteen and Alpha-Sixteen.

Through this, he finally understood the core difference between Bloodline Breakthrough and Lifespan Breakthrough.

The former was costly and had a low success rate, but a successful breakthrough often resulted in a qualitative leap—such as advancing directly from Second-Order Low Grade to Middle Grade.

The latter was different. Apart from lifespan, there was little cost. As long as reproduction was stable, breakthroughs could be sustained continuously. However, the changes from each breakthrough were incremental, requiring immense patience and time.

Wang Ba had patience in spades.

However, the biggest issue with cultivating Spirit Poultry via Lifespan Breakthrough was that reproduction was extremely unstable, depending entirely on the male’s mood and luck.

In contrast, spirit turtles excelled in this area. Once the defects caused by repeated inbreeding were resolved, their breakthroughs became very consistent.

Of course, both species encountered a similar problem after reaching the Second Order: the phenomenon of “fewer eggs” and “white eggs.”

White eggs meant unfertilized eggs.

Wang Ba concluded that the higher the life tier of an individual, the lower its reproductive capacity. It was a form of natural balance. Spirit beasts that were individually powerful, long-lived, and prolific breeders simply did not exist.

Compared to their First-Order counterparts, Second-Order Spirit Poultry and turtles clearly existed on a higher tier of life.

Wang Ba noticed this when performing Lifespan Breakthroughs on them. A distinct change was the exchange ratio of his lifespan.

Originally, the ratio for Spirit Poultry was 1:5. Now, for Second-Order Spirit Poultry, it had shifted to 2:1.

Calculated out, the “quality” of a Second-Order Spirit Poultry’s lifespan was nearly ten times that of a First-Order one. Since a Second-Order Low Grade Spirit Poultry lived for nearly 260 years, a single bird could provide Wang Ba with 260 years of lifespan.

This was the value of a Second-Order life form.

Of course, there were spirit beasts that were easy to breed and possessed decent strength.

Take the “Psychic Ghost Loach,” for example.

As a Second-Order Low Grade existence, its reproductive ability was impressive. While not as prolific as insects that laid thousands of eggs at once, a loach could lay tens of thousands of eggs at its peak.

However, unlike the loaches Wang Ba was familiar with, the Psychic Ghost Loach was ferocious by nature. Upon hatching, the fry would devour each other until only a dozen survivors remained from a clutch of thousands.

Even if the eggs were separated, they would mysteriously die off until the numbers balanced out. Furthermore, in the wild, their juveniles were preyed upon by insects, birds, and frogs, making the species rare.

Wang Ba had only found a few after checking the spirit beast shops every time he went to buy feed. He had gritted his teeth and bought them all.

Under his accelerated maturation, they reproduced and broke through rapidly. In just a few years, he had bred nearly eight generations, smoothly advancing them from Second-Order Low Grade to High Grade.

Individually, their strength wasn’t outstanding; they could only bite and wriggle into crevices. But their bodies were slender and slippery, and once they swarmed, they could burrow into an enemy’s body and devour them from the inside out.

They were called “Ghost Loaches” because of their elusive speed, stealth, and ferocity.

Their only drawback was their reliance on water. While they could function on land, they were undoubtedly most lethal in their natural element.

After tidying up these conspicuous spirit beasts, Wang Ba checked the area repeatedly to ensure nothing was amiss.

Then, he dug out two jars of Black Crystal Peach Spirit Wine from a corner of the farm.

As he brushed the mud from the jars, the image of an old acquaintance flashed in his mind, and he couldn’t help but sigh softly.

“Fellow Daoist Yu… what a pity.”

…

Yu Changchun had died three years ago.

He had been in Secluded Cultivation for several years without any movement. Finally, a friend from the Sect broke into his cave abode, only to discover that he had passed away long ago.

The cause of death: while attempting to break through to Foundation Establishment, he failed to control the backlash of his Inner Demon, resulting in chaotic Qi that ruptured his body.

When Wang Ba heard the news from Bai Yu, his heart was filled with mixed emotions.

There was no need to deny it—although he had raised Spirit Poultry for Yu Changchun, Wang Ba had actually disliked the man.

Back in the Eastern Sage Sect, Yu Changchun had monitored him for days, forcing him to cut his finger to avoid disaster.

But as they interacted later, Wang Ba realized that while Yu was a cruel and stingy member of the Heavenly Gate Sect, he had been attentive toward Wang Ba. Some of it was for profit, but not all. Fearing his seclusion would delay Wang Ba’s business, he had even introduced him to Bai Yu.

He had also given Wang Ba much guidance.

Yu Changchun once said Wang Ba was one of his few friends. Looking back, those were likely heartfelt words.

Wang Ba recalled the last thing Yu Changchun said to him before entering seclusion.

“Is this year’s Black Crystal Peach Spirit Wine ready yet?”

Wang Ba had replied, “It was just buried. It needs a few more months.”

Now the wine was fragrant, but the old friend was gone.

Letting out a soft sigh, Wang Ba tapped open the mud seal on one jar. He filled two bowls, clinked his against the other, and drank it down in one gulp.

Bai Yu quietly appeared before him. Seeing the scene, he paused.

Then, helping himself, he picked up a jar, filled a porcelain bowl, clinked it against Yu Changchun’s, and downed it in one go.

“Good wine. A pity Disciple-Nephew Yu can’t taste it anymore…” Bai Yu sighed.

“Senior Bai.”

Wang Ba quickly composed himself and bowed respectfully.

After years of contact, Bai Yu had become familiar with him. He shook his head slightly. “There’s no one else here. Have a couple of bowls with me.”

“Yes.”

Wang Ba remained respectful as he refilled Bai Yu’s bowl.

Bai Yu drank three large bowls in a row. The spiritual energy of the wine was rapidly absorbed in his throat, and he let out a satisfied sigh.

Then, he took a Storage Bag from his sleeve and tossed it onto the table.

“The things you wanted are all here.”

Wang Ba picked up the bag and scanned its contents. Surprise and joy flashed in his eyes, dispelling much of his melancholy.

“Thank you, Senior Bai!”

“Don’t thank me. This is Chief Steward Lu’s—no, Elder Lu’s decision.”

Bai Yu waved his hand, refusing the credit.

Wang Ba was familiar with his style. Despite holding a high position in a demonic sect like the Heavenly Gate, Bai Yu conducted himself like a righteous gentleman—fair, just, and true to his word.

It was jarring, but beneficial for Wang Ba.

“Don’t think it’s all good news,” Bai Yu added. “Elder Lu said these materials are precious. If you can’t produce results quickly, his threat to kill you still stands.”

Bai Yu sounded helpless regarding Lu Yuansheng’s attitude, but he delivered the message nonetheless.

Wang Ba immediately put on a nervous expression.

Bai Yu ignored the act, his gaze suddenly sharpening on Wang Ba. “Huh… you’ve achieved the Union of the Three Primes?”

The state of unifying Essence, Qi, and Spirit could not be hidden; it generated a unique aura, which was why Bu Chan had recognized it instantly.

To Wang Ba’s surprise, Bai Yu nodded with satisfaction.

“Not bad. I was planning to give you this later, but since you’re ready…”

He took a small box from his Storage Bag and handed it to Wang Ba.

“This is…”

Wang Ba opened the box carefully.

To his shock, inside lay another Foundation Establishment Pill.